Solvay takes Technyl up a gear

by

Already enjoying a strong position in the automotive market, Solvay upped the ante at Fakuma by taking its benchmark Technyl Red and Technyl Blue into a higher gear.

Technyl Red S is a high-performing, heat-stabilised polyamide designed especially for automotive applications operating at temperatures of over 200°C, making it the ideal lightweighting solution for under-the-hood operations such as turbo engine air ducts or charge air coolers.

Red hot heat

The new formulation of Technyl Red S can withstand operating temperatures peaking at 210°C, with improved impact resistance and the ability to stand up to acid condensates, while offering flowability, superior surface finish and weldability.

All of these enhanced characteristics are essential if the polyamide is to withstand the harsh under-the-hood environment of the contemporary car, said Gérald Durski from Solvay Performance Polyamides.

"One of the main advantages of the product is it is easy to mould with a good surface area and good weldability," he explained. "If we compare Technyl Red S with all the products on the market, the Red range is offering so many advantages: very good mechanical properties, acid resistance and easy-flow. It's an optimal product complementing the range that we have."

Technyl Red S has been extensively tested by Solvay in France and in China using methodology that is recognised and trusted by OEMs, proving that the material can perform to better-than-the-usual PA 66 materials.

Tested, trusted

The material has been developed as a result from Solvay's long-standing cooperation with leading thermal management system developers, while Solvay's Application Performance Testing (APT) centres can conduct accurate tests in turbocharged environments, ensuring full part performance validation under realistic operating conditions.

The knowledge and experience behind the development of the technology, coupled with the tests carried out on the benches in France and China, form part of a development package that is complemented by prototyping technology using Solvay's Sinterline 3D printing portfolio.

"It's exciting really to be able to make functional prototypes with Sinterline and put them on the bench and test them," Durski stated.

He continued that Sinterline is a technology Solvay is actively 'ramping up', having been qualified by big OEMs.

"The OEMs are sharing development data as part of their work with raw materials suppliers and the major automotive Tiers," explained Durski. "It's a collaboration and we have development loops and feedbacks and so on, and very often the part is tested in our lab for qualification validation - so it's an on-going process."

It's this collaboration between the industry and Solvay Performance Polyamides that expedites products to market, thanks to the advanced material characterisation, application validation, predictive simulation with MMI Technyl Design - which is an advanced software powered by Digimat from e-Xstream - Sinterline 3D printing, and part testing at APT Technyl Centres.

The stabilising end of the spectrum

While Technyl Red S deals with the hot side of automotive, Technyl Blue has the cool side covered.

"Typically, the application we're talking about here concerns the cooling systems, so cooling pipes and radiator end tanks, but we're also developing filter housing, thermostat housing and cooling valves because the circuits are getting more and more complex to manage,” Durski explained.

The Technyl Blue range is a heat stabilised plastic that combines superior hydrolysis and thermal ageing performance when up against aggressive coolants, that has been built on the strengths of the traditional Technyl 34NG series.

The material range offers 15 to 60 per cent enhanced hydrolysis resistance versus traditional PA 66 and includes a new compound –Technyl D218 CR V33- that provides superior chemical resistance to road salts used in cooler climates such as Russia, Canada and Japan.

"We have new applications coming on-stream such as the electronic thermostat or the oil filter module housing, EGR coolers being made with G2 Technyl Blue," said Durski.

"At this point in time, we have roughly 20 per cent of modules made of plastic in a car - the rest is made out of aluminium, so that's the future of the lightweighting trend in the market.

"There's still plenty of room for growth and with trends such as more compact engines and hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs), that leads to a higher requirement overall."

Electric connection

It's in the electric vehicle that Durski sees Technyl Blue really flexing its long-term glycol resistance muscles.

"I would say in hybrid and EVs there's potential as the cooling circuits are pretty complex and this is a sector that's just getting started," he said.

Connectors are a particularly challenging application that the Technyl One range has been optimised to face, withstanding high voltages while offering a lightweight polymer solution.

Lightweighting for the electric vehicle is, of course, essential to its efficient running, as the lighter the car, the further the battery can take you.

"Developments in EVs are accelerating and it's quite interesting to watch," said Durski.

Unfading flame retardant

For EV connectors, Solvay has also developed Ixef 1524 RD 001, a halogen-free flame retardant (HFFR) and 50 per cent glass fibre-reinforced polyarylamide (PARA) grade colour matched to signal orange. The material is processed at higher temperatures than typical nylons, which could affect colour quality, but Solvay has formulated pigments and flame-retardant systems that make the material easy to mould without colour fading.

Ixef PARA also presents excellent creep resistance making it a good fit for connectors in EV applications.

"We think it’s a great product," said Andreas Lutz, Automotive Area Development Manager from Solvay Specialty Polymers, "especially if you look at the future of automotive with electrification. There you have lots of connectors and you need a lot of safety, which is why we think this is an innovative product providing a bright colour combined with flame retarding properties, good processability and excellent electrical properties."

Shot-term high temperature resistance

But the traditional combustion engine is still very important to Solvay. For thermal management solutions, the latest addition to Solvay’s family of linear PPS products, Ryton R-4-300 (40 per cent glass-filled loading), offers excellent thermal stability, dimensional stability, chemical resistance and flame retardancy.

Ryton R-4-300 offers long-term thermal stability up to 180°C and short-term temperature resistance of up to 260°C, as well as chemical resistance and an inherent flame retardancy. Compared to many other PPS based grades it shows excellent welding performance.

"Ryton R-4-300 is the right material if you are looking for a really high temperature requirement and continuous contact with water and glycol cooling agents," explained Andreas Lutz.

Amodel pupil

Complementing Solvay’s new thermal management solutions is the Amodel A-89XX series of polyphthalamide (PPA) polymer. The new series of PPA grades ranges from 30 to 50 per cent glass-filled loadings and offers improved dimensional stability, lower moisture uptake and enhanced chemical resistance, and targets applications such as thermostat housings, multi-coolant valves, water inlets and outlets, cross overs, and other under-the-hood components.

Lutz said Solvay is really proud to have these and many other product families in its portfolio. However, Solvay doesn’t only provide the compounds. A lot of work was done before these products were ready to enter the market - including up to 3,000 hours testing under heat and in contact with chemicals to provide important data for key OEMs, he added.

Strength and stiffness

Out from under-the-hood, Solvay is innovating the interior of the car for example with Ixef 3012, a 55 per cent carbon glass fibre hybrid reinforced grade of polyarylamide (PARA), which has been developed to provide a high-strength and stiffness compared to metal low-density solution, with exceptional surface finish. Ixef 3012 PARA complements Solvay's existing 30 per cent carbon fibre-reinforced Ixef 3008 PARA and is commercially available to the worldwide market in black.

Lutz explained that this Ixef grade is stiffer even than some metals. An additional highlight is the good flowability of Ixef PARA.

Ixef has been on a journey, evolving thanks to Solvay's close relationship with its customers who told Solvay the material was not stiff enough originally, and so carbon fibre was added reinforcing the material to beyond the stiffness of some die cast metals.

"The surface quality is excellent, and customers in automotive appreciate this," he said. "If you want to coat a plastic with poor surface quality then the coating doesn't hide the defect, it emphasises it. So, you need a good surface quality to begin with and that is what the material provides. Typical applications for this material are metallised air vent lamellas with high aesthetic requirements. This is a unique and a stand-alone material - but if you want to decorate it, you can easily decorate it."

"Solvay has a strong position in automotive and we defend it," Lutz concluded.

Tags

by

The EUREKA Series

EPPM's EUREKA Series touches on the out-of-the-box thinking that may seem peculiar now, but could influence and innovate plastics as we know it in the future.